Tuesday, January 4, 2005

IDW TO PUBLISH ANGEL COMICS

IDW Publishing will publish comic books based on the former WB television series Angel, editor-in-chief Chris Ryall told The Continuum.

Although plans are still being firmed up, IDW will likely kick off the property with a mini-series that starts in May or June.

"It'll be set at some point after the show ended," Ryall said. "We'll also do a couple one-shots that spotlight other characters and have more minis beyond the first one."

No creative teams have been announced, although it should be noted that former IDW editor-in-chief Jeff Mariotte, who now contributes to the publisher as a free-lance writer, has written Angel novels.

Angel, created by Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt, spun out of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and ran on The WB from 1999-2004. Angel comics were previously published by Dark Horse Comics.

WILL EISNER DIES

Influential comics creator Will Eisner passed away on Monday.

Eisner, 87, had been recovering from quadruple bypass heart surgery.

Below is an excerpt from the obituary from the Lakeland (Fla.) Ledger:

"Eisner started making comics in the 1930s. He was the first to use "silent" balloonless panels to emphasize emotions, by focusing the reader's attention on finely wrought facial expressions. He addressed subjects considered unthinkable in comic books and rarely seen at the time in newspaper comics: spousal abuse, tax audits, urban blight and graft.

"His first graphic novel, A Contract with God, published in 1978, combined comic books and literary novels.

At its height, The Spirit, created in 1940, had a weekly circulation of 5 million with 20 newspapers inserting it into Sunday editions. The supplement consisted of a comic book with three self-contained stories, and The Spirit became the most popular.

In the comic written and illustrated by Eisner, the title character was a coroner named Denny Colt, believed murdered by a mad scientist's potion but actually buried alive. He protected the fictional Central City, which was based on New York.

Eisner was drafted during World War II, and the Army had him create "Joe Dope" to teach Jeep maintenance to soldiers with a bumbling comic character.
After the war, he went back to The Spirit and continued the series until 1952. The Army also hired him for more instruction manuals, which he produced until the 1970s.

FIRST LOOKS

For covers and three- to five-page previews of upcoming titles, CLICK HERE.

Titles include Sea of Red #1 from Image Comics and Lethal Instinct #1 and Tenth Muse #1 from Alias Enterprises.

ELEKTRA MOVIE UPDATE

Jennifer Garner's publicist told USA Today it's unclear if the actress, stricken with a viral infection, will be able to attend Saturday's premiere of Elektra in Las Vegas.

"She's taking it day by day," publicist Nicole King told the newspaper after the television series Inside Edition reported that Garner was canceling public appearances this week to promote both Elektra and Wednesday's season premiere of Alias.

Fox on Tuesday canceled an Elektra press junket that was scheduled for Sunday. The premiere is still scheduled.

In additional to the premiere at the Palms Resort on Saturday night, Garner next week is scheduled to be the host of NBC's Saturday Night Live and attend the Golden Globe Awards, for which she is nominated for Alias.

BRIEFLY

The Wednesday, Jan. 19 episode of The WB's Smallville will be a repeat of the third-season episode "Obsession."

The Saturday, Jan. 15 episode of Kids' WB!'s The Batman will be a repeat of "Q&A" and the episode of Teen Titans will be "Winner Take All." For the network's complete schedule for the week of Jan. 10, CLICK HERE.

SSS Comics has announced that all profits from its newest book Eclipse & Vega: The Beds We Make #2 will be donated to the tsunami relief operation. The book will be in stores in late March.

Coming Wednesday: DC news -- and much more!!!

COMICS CONTINUUM BACK ISSUES

In case you missed The Continuum's recent coverage, here are some links: